Chapter 1013 (1/2)

Randidly hid a smile with a hand. At this point, the fearsome Randidly Ghosthound was just marching around with his arms behind his back to look official. Although he was very sure of his knowledge in regards to metal forging, images, and Engraving, the technical details of some of the inventions that the participants in the festivals brought were beyond him.

During his time working with drones, his piss-poor knowledge of mechanical engineering had simply been masked by his prodigious Mana pool and his ability to Engrave. But since Tatiana had somehow gotten the idea to include his guidance as a reward for participation, there needed to be some commentary. Therefore, he allowed Wendy to do what came naturally to her.

After all, very few academics, especially young ones, could resist god-given opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge.

“Fascinating… but poorly designed. Is this only the first prototype…?” Wendy spun the strange circular module in her hand. She barely even seemed to be examining the technology, just spinning it. In the brightly lit lantern light, the silver blur shined and swam before Randidly’s eyes like a fish in water. Although she had no combat abilities to speak of, that didn’t mean Wendy didn’t have her own methods.

But maybe I should have told her that these people had only six hours to make their inventions. She’s been quite harsh…

...but then again, compared to some of the timelines I demanded from her, six hours...

The elderly man who created the module was nervously looking from Wendy to Randidly. It was hard to say whether Wendy’s rather dismissive evaluation or her cavalier handling of the module was the source of his worry, but it was clear he was inwardly struggling not to speak out. Likely he would have, had Randidly not been here.

Randidly and Wendy had made it almost 3/4ths of the way through the entrants into the contest over the course of two hours. Although Randidly had intended to create the chance for other people to take a break with this festival, he was beginning to wish that he had a little more time to work on his actual goals during this period of times. Right now, he was effectively just a rubber stance with whatever advice that Wendy gave.

But still, he owed this to Wendy. So he kept his peace and watched. Besides, Randidly couldn’t deny that with Wendy’s criticisms and using Aether Detection to peer into the inner workings of the inventions, he was learning quite a lot. In his mind, the final plans for the moving city were coming into sharper relief.

“Uh… Mr. Ghosthound… actually-” The old man began as his gaze remained fixed on Wendy’s hands. The man licked his lips as he worked himself up to say something. But Wendy quickly cut him off.

“What’s this?” The object in her hands had stopped spinning. Wendy was pointing a series of cramped Engravings that had been added to the back.

“That… what…?” Then the old man paled. “Ah… just a stop-gap method for dealing with some of the overflowing energy that the module experiences while it is used. In short tests, the energy remained under control, but I suspect that over time-”

“This will cause energy discharge, will it not? Not a large amount, but certainly painful.” Wendy sniffed and set the invention down on the stand with an audible clack. “Maybe a good idea… but even good ideas need to be honed before they are released on the market. I hope your next iteration will be refined further.”

Really, to have noticed the issue after six hours seems like plenty, but I can’t deny that having someone with Wendy’s attention to detail help me is invaluable...

Without waiting for the man’s answer, Wendy continued on to the next stall. Despite the fact they had been going on for almost two hours, Wendy only seemed invigorated. She marched forward with swinging arms, and her eyes were bright and curious.

The owner of the next stall was clearly sweating, having watched Wendy’s methodical evisceration of the qualifications of every entrant that had come before. But the next entrant, a woman who had shaved half of her head, took a deep breath as Wendy approached. With his sensitivity to images, he could even feel the thin sensation of emotions when he was this close to the source.

Fear and hopelessness surged in the woman’s heart. Even though Randidly didn’t know everyone in Erickson Steel, he had recognized that the old man that Wendy quickly disregarded was relatively well regarded.

He could follow the downhill flow of the woman’s thoughts: If his invention isn’t good enough, then my own…

And yet...

The woman raised her chin and smiled as brightly as she could manage at the Randidly and Wendy. With a very short explanation, she explained the purpose of her invention; it was a one-use battery that would stimulate an individual’s body to cause Stamina to recover at double its previous rate for a short time. The two obvious drawbacks were the fact it could only be used one time, and that the process was quite painful.

Although he kept his emerald eyes unfocused, Randidly’s entire attention was focused on the nervous woman and the rather delighted Wendy. He had remained largely silent during their meandering path through the brightly lit festival for two reasons. The first was that Wendy was a much more precise judge of these things than he would have been. The second reason…

It was for that moment of nervous fear that the woman had as she watched everyone before her fail to achieve the standards that he set. It was for that eyes-pressed-tightly-shut tension right before Randidly and Wendy arrived. And it was for that moment that the woman gritted her teeth and forced out a smile despite the bitter fear of failure.

‘Even if everyone else in front of me failed, I will still step forward and try my best. I can still do it. Even if the chance is close to zero…. I will give it my best.’

That was what Randidly was here to create. A tight deadline that pushed away thoughts and worries, and a tantalizing future to draw people out of their comfort zone. An attitude across the whole of Erickson Steel that would encourage attempting the impossible and pushing your own limits.

There was some risk that he would crush the dreams of these people with the weight of his expectations, but Randidly had no other choice.

Honestly, with not a moment to spare, Randidly thought wryly. Because of the problems associated with the final Judgement, he wanted to have Erickson Steel ready to get up and walk away in two weeks. Therefore, the people that were here now on Erickson Steel would be the psychological foundation for any image that would cover the city.

Randidly hadn’t seen very much of most of the people who were a part of the compound, so he had carried a worry with him in his heart. But to see all these people now… stepping forward again and again for the sake of advancing their own art… Randidly couldn’t help but relax a small amount.